Acoustic supporting-base for pianos.



Nu. 639,0!6. Patented Dec. l2, I899. F. A. BRONSUN.

ACOUSTIC SUPPORTING BASE FDR PIANOS.

(Application filed Sept. 7. 1899.)

INVENTOR WITN 5 5135 ATTORNEY THE uonms PETERS co, PHOYO-LWHU WASHINGTON. n. c

UNITED STATES PATENT FFiQQ.

FRANK A. BRONSON, OF BlNGHAIvllON, NEYV YORK.

ACOUSTIC SUPPORTING-BASE FQR PEANOS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,016, dated December 12, 1899.

Application filed September '7, 1899. Serial No. 729,671. (No model) T0 on whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK A BRONSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Binghamton, in the county ofBroome, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Acoustic Supporting- Bases for Pianos, &c., of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a device designed to be placed under the supporting-legs of pianos, organs, or other musical instruments standing on carpets, rugs, or other soft floorcoverings which tend to deaden or muffle the tone of the instrument, which device is employed for the purpose of counteracting said effects, or, in other Words, to increase the resonance of the instrument.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive device which can easily and conveniently be placed under the instrument and shall effectually overcome the aforesaid deadening and muffling effects of the carpet, &c., and at the same time shall be neat in appearance; and to that end the invention consists of an acoustic base designed to be placed under the legs of pianos and analogous musical instruments, comprising a resonant shell having a closed top and an open bottom, said top being formed with a seat for the leg of the instrument, and a metallic transmitting pin or screw extending from the shell into the floor supporting the instrument, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a perspective of a piano, illustrating the same standing on the acoustic supporting-base Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the supporting-base enlarged, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same.

My invention is more particularly intended for pianos, and in the accompanying drawings a a denote the legs of the piano, which are provided with the usual rollers Z) I), and 0 represents a wooden fioor upon which the piano stands. Between said legs and the floor is interposed the usual carpet or other floor covering, asindicated at (Z, which carpet tends to deaden or mufiie the tone of the instrument.

a represents the acoustic supporting-base,

which may be made of metal, glass, or other suitable resonant material and which is placed directly under the leg a of the piano for the purpose of overcoming the aforesaid deadenin g and in u fflin g effects of the carpet upon the tone of the instrument. Said base consists of a shell having a closed top and an open bottom, said top being concaved in its central portion, thus forming a seat Z) for the leg of the instrument and also forming a guard c, surrounding the seat, to retain the leg in said seat, thereby preventing the instrument from moving off the supporting-base.

The supporting-base a is formed with a central vertical prop d, having a vertical opening e therethrough, through which opening passes a metallic pin or spike or screw a by which the base is secured to the floor c, the head of which pin is countersunk in the seat Z) of the base, as indicated at a in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The pin a serves mainly as a conductor through which the tone of the instrument is transmitted to the hard floor 0, and thus the resonance of the instrument is materially and effectually increased.

It will be seen by referring to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings that in place of the central retaining and transmitting pin [L2 a series of inclined bracing-pins b b may be employed, which latter pins pass through the guard c and enter the floor, although I prefer to use only the single pin.

What I claim is 1. An acoustic base designed to be placed under the legs of pianos and analogous musical instruments, comprising a resonant shell having a closed top and an open bottom, said top being formed with a seat for the leg of the instrument, and a metallic transmitting pin or screw extending from the shell into the floor supporting the instrument substantially as described.

2. An acoustic base designed to be placed under the legs of pianos and analogous musical instruments, comprising a resonant shell formed with a seat in its top for the leg of the instrument, and a metallic transmitting pin or screw extending from said top into the floor supporting the instrument substantially as described.

3. An acoustic base designed to be placed under the legs of pianos and analogous musiof the instrument, a central prop formed in the shell and extending from the top and formed with a vertical opening, and a metallic transmitting pin or screw extending through said opening and from the aforesaid seat into the floor supporting the instrument substantially as described.

% FRANK A. BRONSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN J. LAASS, H. B. SMITH. 

